Steps for Construction of Earth roads

 General :
First of all what is an earth road? Earth road is a type of road whose whole pavement section is
constructed with the locally available earth material preferably. Borrow pits are located at the
nearby sites preferably outside the land width  where, the required earth is available.

Sub-grade and the surface of the earth roads are given larger camber of 1in 33 to 1 in 20 because
they need faster drainage to be safe from the moisture. A maximum value of camber of 1 in 20 is
the limit because higher camber will result in the formation of cross ruts and corrosion of
pavement soils.

 Specifications of Materials:
The earth material used for the construction of earth roads are termed as satisfactory if they
possess the following properties:
                                               Base Course                         Wearing Course

1. Clay content                       <5%                                      10 to 18%

2. Silt content                       9 to 32%                                  5 to 15%
3. Sand content                     60 to 80%                               65 to 80%
4. Liquid limit                          <35%                                      <35%
5. Plasticity Index                     <6%                                      4 to 10%
 Construction steps(Procedure):
Material: 
Suitable borrow pits are located by doing the survey of the adjacent land which are easy to reach
and at economical haulage distance. The various organic materials like trees, shrubs and grass
roots are removed before the excavation of the earth.

Location of the centerline: 

The centerline and the road boundaries are marked on the ground by driving the wooden pegs. 

To follow the desired vertical profile of the road, reference pegs are also driven at a certain
spacing which depends upon the estimated length of the road construction per day.

Preparation of the subgrade: Following steps are necessary for the preparation of the sub-
grade:  (a) Clearing site 
(b) Excavation and construction of fills
(c) Shaping of sub-grade.
The site clearance may be done manually using appliances like spade, pick and hand shovel or
using the mechanical equipment like Bulldozer and scraper etc.
Excavation and construction of fills may also be done manually or using the excavation, hauling
and compaction equipment.  Dozers are considered very useful for haulage of short distances. 
If the compaction is done manually it will not be sufficient and proper, it should be left to get
consolidated under atmospheric conditions. 

Various equipment used by manual labor are shovel, spade, pick-axe, baskets, rammers and hand
rollers.                                                        The subgrade should be compacted to the desired
grade, camber and longitudinal profile.

Pavement construction: 
The soil is dumped on the prepared sub-grade and pulverized. The soil may be a mixture of more
than one soil to get the desired properties. The moisture content is checked and if extra moisture
is needed, is added to bring it to OMC.
The soil is mixed, spread and rolled in layers such that the compaction thickness of each layer
does not exceed 10 cm. 

The type of roller for compaction is decided based on soil type, desired amount of compaction
and availability of equipment. At Least 95% of dry density of I.S. light compaction is considered
desirable. The camber of the finished surface is checked and corrected when necessary.

Opening to traffic: The compacted earth surface is allowed to dry out for few days and then is
opened to traffic.

1. Clay Content 

a. Clay should not be more than 5 % in the soil if it has to be used in the base course. Excessive
clay leads to deformation and settlement of road foundation.
b. Soil should contain 10 to 18 % clay if it has to be used in surface course.

2. Silt Content

a. Minimum of 9 % and a maximum of 32 % silt in the soil is best for base course.

b. The soil used in the wearing course should contain a minimum of 5 % silt. More than 15% of
silt is not suitable in any case.

3. Sand Content

a. About 60 to 80 % of sand in the soil is best for the base course. Sand transfers the load by
granular action. So, it is an essential component of soil used in the earth road.

b. 65 to 80% of sand in the soil is best to use in wearing course.

4. Liquid Limit

The liquid limit of soil used in both base and wearing course should not be more than 35%.

5. Plasticity Index

a. The soil used in the base course should have plasticity of less than 6 %.

b. Soil having plasticity of 4 to 6% is suitable for the wearing course.

Camber
Recommended Values of Camber in Road for Different Types of Road surface by IRC: 
 Range of Camber in Areas of
Sr. No. Type of Road Surface 
Low Rainfall Heavy Rainfall

Cement concrete and thick

1 1 in 60 or 1.7% 1 in 50 or 2.0%
bituminous surface

2 Thin bituminous surface 1 in 50 or 2.0% 1 in 40 or 2.5%

Water bound macadam and
3 1 in 40 or 2.5% 1 in 33 or 3.0%
gravel pavement

4 Earth Road 1 in 33 or 3.0% 1 in 25 or 4.0%

Types of Camber 
 Composite camber.
 Sloped or Straight camber.
 Two straight line camber.
 Barrel camber.

#1. Composite Camber.

Composite camber might be composed of partly parabola and partly straight
line or two straight lines having different slopes.

Generally, the central part of the road is made parabolic and provided with
straight slopes near edges. This helps to decrease in intensity of pressure by
increasing the contact area of the wheel.
#2. Straight Camber or Sloped Camber
This type of camber is provided by meeting two straight surfaces in the crown.
Crown is the central and top most point in the surface of the road.

The edge shape produces inconvenience to the traffic, so it isn’t used in

general.

#3. Two Straight Line Camber.

It consists of both straight lines steeper near the edges and flatters near the
crown. This type of camber is considered to be the best for Indian roads.
#4. Barrel Camber.
It consists of a continuous curve, either parabolic or elliptical. This type of
camber is preferred for roads used by fast-moving vehicles.

Why Is Camber Provided In Road?

 To protect the road by preventing the entry of surface water to the
subgrade soil through the pavement.